Tom Stephenson blogs about Vanderbilt sports at Anchor of Gold and is also a lawyer because to go to Vanderbilt and care about sports you have to be a lawyer. It’s the rules. This is Tom’s 2nd time on the Blogle. He’s gotten a little more comfortable which makes him a little more bold and brash. This new winning Vandy has people changing, man. 
1. What are Vanderbilt fans first thoughts of Auburn football right now?
The weird thing is that we don’t think about Auburn football all that much. I’m not saying they fall into the Oklahoma/Missouri bucket of “why the hell is this team in our conference,” but there’s a tendency to think of them as just another game on the schedule as opposed to either a rival (Tennessee, to some degree Kentucky) or “oh shit how can we possibly beat this team” (Georgia, Alabama in every year except 2024.) That said, we’re currently viewing them as a team we should beat, which says a lot about the state of both Auburn and Vanderbilt football in 2024.
2. What’s the vibe like in Nashville for this above average Vanderbilt team?
Very good, probably the strongest it’s been since the Franklin years. Maybe even better, because most Vanderbilt fans went into this season looking at going 3-9 and thinking this is just going to be our life in the new SEC. And then — surprise!
3. What sort of voodoo witchcraft do you think was involved to pit Diego Pavia against Hugh Freeze one more time?
I don’t even think it was voodoo witchcraft, because it was intentional on Clark Lea’s part. He thought Vanderbilt should have been able to compete with Auburn last season and then, when New Mexico State beat Auburn, looked at that and said “let’s just go get their head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterback.” No, really, this is something Clark Lea is on the record about, though I can’t remember when or where.
4. How do you beat Alabama and scare a host of other good teams and then lose to Georgia State and struggle with Ball State?
Vanderbilt pretty obviously didn’t take the Georgia State game seriously (and also decided to reserve a season’s worth of mental mistakes for that one game.) The Ball State game was much more “let’s get out of here without showing any cards or getting Diego Pavia hurt.”
5. Who are two unheralded Commodores that Auburn fans should lookout for and why?
The difficult part of answering this question is who exactly qualifies as “unheralded” here, because most years that’s the entire team minus maybe one or two guys. Safety Randon Fontenette had a monster game against Texas and is trending toward being at worst a Day 2 NFL Draft pick when he comes out. Tight end Eli Stowers (another New Mexico State transfer, because of course) has very quickly emerged as Pavia’s favorite target and a likely NFL Draft selection.
6. Who are two Auburn Tigers that scare you the most and why?
I mean, Jarquez Hunter, because you don’t run for nearly 300 yards in a game by accident. Beyond him, well, yeesh — I’m not sure I can name another Auburn player besides Payton Thorne (who decidedly does not scare me.)
7. Where do you see each team having an advantage over the other?
Auburn has the advantage of having a coaching staff that’s seen this offense and this quarterback before — one advantage Vanderbilt’s had this season is that most SEC teams just haven’t seen the Tim Beck/Diego Pavia offense before and that’s not the case for Auburn, even though the offense is wearing Vanderbilt uniforms now. And Auburn’s running game is definitely an advantage for them; while Vandy’s run defense has been surprisingly stout this season, we haven’t seen a back like Hunter. Vanderbilt’s advantage is, well, there’s a reason Hugh Freeze has lost to Diego Pavia twice. Also, Vanderbilt definitely has an advantage at quarterback and I don’t even think Auburn fans would disagree with that.
8. What’s your analysis and score prediction for this game?
Auburn’s a better team than their record but there’s a reason why they keep losing, and I doubt Hugh Freeze has figured out how to stop Pavia. 24-20, Vanderbilt.
9. Where do you see Auburn and Vanderbilt ending up this season?
Well, Vanderbilt just needs one more win to be bowl eligible and I think they’ll get it, and a nice trip to beautiful Memphis in December for the Liberty Bowl. As for Auburn… well… maybe 5-7?
10. Lastly, what’s the best bar on Broadway and why?
The bar of the goalpost that was thrown in the Cumberland River at the end of Broadway. (Seriously, though, Broadway is a thing for tourists.)
